Hell ship survivors embrace 'miracle'

On Sept. 7, 1944, the Japanese freighter Shinyo Maru carrying more than 700 POWs to slave labor camps was torpedoed by an American sub. Only 82 prisoners survived. Thursday was their final reunion.

By Lindsay TozerTimes-Union staff writer,

It could have been a high school reunion, these 14 men standing in two rows, silver-haired and grinning for the cameras.

But yesterday's gathering at a Jacksonville Naval Air Station chapel was more than nostalgia talk and slaps on the back.

It was remembering one more time what none of the men is able to forget: the Japanese freighter Shinyo Maru.

Now in their 70s and 80s, these 14 are among the last survivors of the hell ship that was carrying them, and more than 700 other American prisoners of war, to slave labor camps in Japan.

On Sept. 7, 1944, the freighter was torpedoed by an American submarine. Only 82 POWs survived.

Associate Chaplain Lt. Cmdr. w. Hatman rings a bell for those killed aboard the Shinyo Maru and nine other Japanese ships carrying American POWs.

-- John Pemberton/Staff

"We are a group of good men who served our country," said Hayes Bolitho, the ceremony's guest speaker, in the uneven, halting voice of a man trying not to cry. "We are the ones who survived. Those who died are in our hearts."

Bolitho, who suffered gunshot wounds to the foot and hand, broken ribs and bayonet slashes from Japanese guards to escape the torpedoed ship, encouraged the 125 in attendance yesterday to remember all soldiers who died at the hands of their enemy captors, not just those lost on the Shinyo Maru.

John Morrett, who helped coordinate the event, offered prayers both for those who perished on the ship -- and for those who came home.

"A miracle for each of us happened because we survived the destruction of the hell ship," said Morrett, of Jacksonville.

Bagpiper Bill Sloan plays Amazing Grace at the reunion Thursday for Shinyo Maru survivors. The service was held at the NAS Jacksonville chapel.

-- John Pemberton/Staff

The men, who traveled to Jacksonville from across the nation for this eighth -- and final -- survivors reunion, came for different reasons.

His eyes rimmed red, Oregonian Glen Kuskie said he hoped to catch up with pals he hadn't seen since he was 20 years old.

Bert Schwarz, for whom yesterday marked his fourth such reunion, said he appreciated not only those who shared the struggle of Shinyo Maru but those who made life bearable in the prison camps.

A worker in the rice fields of the Davao Penal Colony, Schwarz recalled one day when the truck carrying prisoners back to camp got stuck in the mud.

"Our friendly Japanese guards told us to get out and push and we had no shoes on this gravel and railroad ties," the 84-year-old said. "One of the prisoners began singing God Bless America. We got to the camp and the others started singing with us."

Word spread among the prisoners to meet later that night where one of the soldiers held an Army blanket, Schwarz continued.

"He opened the thing and there was an old American flag he had hidden . . .," the Georgian said, his voice betraying him at the memory as he patted his chest to regain composure. "Now, that would have been death for us. There must have been 50 of us there, and we just started whispering The Star Spangled Banner."

Many in the crowd clutched tissues, or pews, or each other as the names of survivors, who have since died, were recognized with the ringing of a bell. A bugler sounded taps just outside the chapel's open doors and a bagpiper's rendition of Amazing Grace hung in the air as the ceremony concluded.

"We are here to say thank you, say thank you for what you did for us," Lt. Cmdr. W. D. Hatman told the survivors. "We love you and we appreciate you. We honor you."